SpectraSuite, a Java-based Software Platform

DUNEDIN, Fla., Sept. 9 -- Ocean Optics Inc., a supplier of solutions for optical sensing, has released SpectraSuite, a modular, Java-based spectroscopy software platform that operates on Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. SpectraSuite can be used to control any Ocean Optics USB spectrometer and device, as well as any other manufacturer's USB instrumentation using the appropriate drivers. With SpectraSuite, a user can combine data from multiple USB spectrometers in applications that include upwelling/downwelling measurements, dual-beam referencing and process monitoring.

The SpectraSuite framework is modular, with the data acquisition, scheduling, data processing and rendering functions all being separate modules. A user can add or delete modules to create a customized user interface or functionality, create modules to perform calculations and automate experiment routines. The software can be customized through Java code.

SpectraSuite manages multiple USB spectrometers -- each with different acquisition parameters -- in multiple windows, and provides graphical and numeric representation of spectra from each spectrometer. It also provides the user with control of episodic data capture attributes. For instance, a user can acquire data for a fixed number of scans or for a specific interval. Initiation of each scan can be externally triggered or event-driven. The captured data is stored into a systems memory and can be stored to disk or viewed as a 3-D surface.

SpectraSuite is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant with an encoded binary file. This binary data format tracks the complete history of all processing steps that are performed on the data. SpectraSuite stores and provides data in a variety of other formats, including tab-delimited ASCII (for Excel or other analysis packages), Grams SPC and JCAMP. Additionally, SpectraSuite offers a database module where arbitrary data can be stored in any user-selectable format. Another aspect of the software's binary data tracking function is that a user can change the values of various parameters in a process and apply those changes to data without having to recreate an entire process. Currently, modules that support English, German, Japanese and Russian are available; support for Chinese, French and Spanish will be available by the end of the year.

SpectraSuite is the platform for all future Ocean Optics application software development. The company's current software applications, including OOIChem, OOISensors OOIColor and OOIIrrad-C, will be migrated to the SpectraSuite platform by early next year.